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Foreign citizens, 1 January 2004

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Published: 18 March 2004

204 731 foreign citizens in Norway

204 731 foreign citizens were residents in Norway at the beginning of 2004, 4.5 per cent of the population. This year there were 7 000 more foreign citizens than at the same time last year - an increase of 3.6 per cent.

Most Swedes and Danes

At the beginning of 2004 almost 25 450 Swedish and 20 000 Danish citizens were residents in Norway, 22 per cent of all foreign citizens. Iraqis made up the third largest group, 13 370 persons and British the fourth largest with 11 000 persons.

The 20 largest groups of foreign citizens 1 January 2004
and changes in 2003

Citizenship

Foreign citizens
1 January 2004

Changes 2003.
Absolute numbers

Changes in 2003.
Per cent

Sweden

25 432

191

0.8

Denmark

20 006

-2

0.0

Iraq

13 373

335

2.6

United Kingdom

11 018

-170

-1.5

Somalia

9 861

1 484

17.7

Germany

8 839

606

7.4

United States

7 703

-273

-3.4

Pakistan

6 572

-104

-1.6

Finland

6 332

-30

-0.5

Russian Federation

6 203

1 374

28.5

Bosnia Herzegovina

5 952

-1 898

-24.2

Yugoslavia

5 665

-339

-5.6

Iran

5 113

439

9.4

Afghanistan

4 346

1 396

47.3

Thailand

4 248

612

16.8

Iceland

4 114

-105

-2.5

Netherlands

3 950

113

2.9

Turkey

3 540

30

0.9

Sri Lanka

2 755

-96

-3.4

Poland

2 741

122

4.7

Largest increase of Somalis and Afghanis

The increase in 2003 was largest for Somalis, 1 485 persons, Afghanis, 1 395 persons and Russians, 1 375. The increase for Afghanis was 47 per cent, while the figures for Somalis and Russians were 18 and 29 per cent respectively. The increase for Asians and Africans came to 3 545 and 2 705 persons, 88 per cent of the total increase among foreign citizens. The largest decline occurred for citizens from Bosnia-Herzegovina with 1 900, 24 per cent.

Changes in the number of foreign citizens are particularly influenced by immigration and emigration, and that people receive Norwegian citizenship. The past years have shown a large immigration of Iraqis, Somalis, Afghanis and Russians, while many from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Iraq and Somalia have become Norwegian citizens. The number of foreign citizens shows a different picture of the immigrant population than the standard classification from Statistics Norway . There were for instance 1 580 Vietnamese citizens in Norway at the beginning of 2004, while figures from 1.1.2003 show that there were 11 700 people born in Vietnam and 5 250 born in Norway with two parents born in Vietnam.

1 of 10 in Oslo is a foreign citizen

52 265 of the foreign citizens live in Oslo, 10 per cent of the population. The county Akershus has the second largest number of foreign citizens, 25 680, 5.3 per cent of the population. The lowest proportion of foreign citizens is in the county Nord-Trøndelag, 2.1 per cent.

Many young adults and few elderly

45 per cent of the foreign citizens are aged 20-39 years, while 28 per cent of the total population is in this age group. The percentage of children aged 0-5 years for all foreign citizens is almost the same as in the entire population.

Compared with the population at large, there are relatively few elderly among the foreign citizens. 4 per cent of the foreign citizens are older than 66 years, while 13 per cent of the entire population is in this age group. Among citizens from Africa only 1 per cent were older than 66 years. Only citizens from North America show the same percentage of elderly as the Norwegian population. The small portion of elderly among foreign citizens is mainly due to a relatively recent immigration, and that many immigrants who settle in Norway after a while receive Norwegian citizenship.

Small differences in gender

There are almost an equal number of men and women among the foreign citizens. Among citizens from Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Great Britain there are a lot more men than women, while the opposite is true for citizens from Russia, Thailand, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Poland and Finland.

The statistics can also to be found in StatBank where the users may produce their own tables.